1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to a convertible motor vehicle roof having a front roof section and a rear back section. More specifically, the invention relates to a convertible motor vehicle roof having a front roof section pivotally mounted using a lever device on the body of the motor vehicle and a rear section that can be pivoted via the front roof section and can be lowered jointly with the front roof section into a back stowage space in the motor vehicle.
2. Description of the Related Art
German Patent DE 44 35 222 C1 discloses a motor vehicle roof with a front roof section and a rear roof section. The front roof section, which can be locked on an apron via a roof rod coupled with a pivoting capacity, is coupled with a pivoting capacity to the body of the motor vehicle by means of a pivoting lever. The rear section which adjoins the front roof section to the rear and sits on a flap of the box for the folding roof to form a seal. The rear roof section forms a transition to the trunk and is movably supported via a pivoting lever which is supported on the vehicle body and which can be pivoted by means of a hydraulic cylinder. The hydraulic cylinder is coupled via another hydraulic cylinder to a rear coupling point of the rear roof section to the latter, and with an additional hydraulic cylinder and a telescoping guide which is parallel to it, which on the one hand are attached to the pivoting lever and on the other engage the rear section at the front coupling point, such that by pivoting and actuating the lever and hydraulic cylinder device the roof section can be raised from its closed position by the flap of the box for the folding top and can be pivoted forward to over the roof section. Then the rear section is locked on the roof section and after unlocking the roof rod and by actuating the lever and hydraulic cylinder device it is pivoted as a unit with the roof section to the rear into a stowage space and deposited there. In doing so the roof section swivels according to a guide by its pivoting rod and by the lever and hydraulic cylinder device of the rear section. This arrangement of the lever and hydraulic cylinder device however requires a lateral elongated recess for passage of the lever and hydraulic cylinder device in the flap of the box for the folding roof.
An object of the present invention is to provide a motor vehicle roof with a simplified and improved deposition mechanism. This object is achieved in accordance with the invention by providing a rear roof section being supported with a pivoting capacity on at least one of the roof section and the lever device. Such a configuration eliminates a direct lever connection between the rear roof section and the vehicle body so that when the rear roof section is pivoted up while opening the roof the cover of the box for folding the roof can be pivoted up unhindered by levers and rods. The levers and rods are used for supporting the rear roof section with a pivoting capacity in order to open the stowage space for the motor vehicle roof. The front roof section can also be divided into two or more sections which are coupled to one another and can be deposited jointly by the lever device.
Preferably, the lever device which supports the roof section contains two levers which form a four-bar mechanism. Depending upon the chosen position of the joints of the two levers, the pivoting motion of the roof section can be easily dictated and adjusted. Moreover, the rear roof section is also supported by a lever device which has two rods which form a four-bar mechanism. If one rod of the rear roof section is coupled to the roof section and the other rod is coupled to one of the two levers which support the roof section, by the relative motion of this lever a specific dynamic behavior of the rear roof section can be set when the motor vehicle roof is being lowered. But also, the two rods can also be coupled to the roof section and to at least one of the levers and one rod at the time can be coupled to one of the levers. At least one of the rods in these cases can contain a hydraulic cylinder device or it can be made as such in order to be able to change the length for the pivoting motion.
A configuration is especially preferred whereby when the motor vehicle roof is closed, the lever device or the levers of the roof section are located substantially vertically roughly in the area of one side front edge of the rear section. At the same time this front edge borders the door opening. By means of this arrangement unhindered viewing through the side window located in the rear section is not affected at all or is only slightly impaired. In addition, the pivoting path of the cover of the box for the folding roof with the hat rack is not adversely affected and lateral elongated recesses in the cover of the box for the folding roof are not necessary for the levers.
According to another preferred embodiment, the lever device for supporting the rear roof section has one rod which is supported on the roof section and another rod which is coupled by device of a supporting rod to one of the two levers which support the roof section. Compared to a four-bar mechanism, by means of the additional supporting lever, improved dynamic behavior can be achieved, especially when there is a drive device which couples the rod connected to the supporting rod and the lever which supports the roof section and upon actuation can change the distance between the rod and the lever for moving the rear section. Preferably, one of the levers which supports the roof section and one of the rods which supports the rear section are supported on the roof section, and, depending upon its pivoting position relative to the roof section, the lever fixes the pivoting position of the rod which supports the rear section relative to the roof section by a positioning device. One simply configured yet reliable positioning device contains a crank which is located on the lever and an actuating section which is connected to the rod and which engages the crank at least over a certain pivoting range. Preferably, the stowage space for the motor vehicle roof is a box for the folding roof which can have side boundaries and a bottom. When the bottom of the box for the folding roof can be removed behind the seats when the motor vehicle roof is closed, a cargo space or the trunk space can be enlarged.
In one preferred configuration, the two lever device are designed such that when the motor vehicle roof is lowered, first the rear section is pivoted over the roof section, then the cover of the stowage space or of the box for the folding roof is pivoted up, the roof section with the rear section is deposited into an substantially horizontal arrangement in the stowage space or the box for the folding roof and the cover of the stowage space or the box for the folding roof is pivoted down again. Preferably, the roof section and the rear section each contain its own drive, but there can also be a common drive for the roof section and the rear section.